The Sweetest of Music
by smoking-tulips
Summary: Natalia has no need for love, especially not when it's aimed at stuck-up muscians. Yet, something is going to change her view after having been draged to a certain concert. AU Norway/Belarus fic where the Nordics are musicians
1. Chapter 1

_Second Norway/Belarus centred fic. I think it was born from a conversation with my Belarus RP'r...how much the nordic 5 seemd like a boy band..._

_To ease confusion:_

_Norway = Erik Sørensen_

_Iceland = Halvor Erikson_

_Denmark = Mathias Khøler _

_Netherland = Willem van Gent_

_Belgium = Audrey van Gent_

_Liechtenstein = Lily Zwingli_

* * *

Erik was lost in though and concentration, staring into nothing as he carefully strummed his violin's strings, making sure they sounded as they should before they headed onto the stage.

A harsh clap on the back and a loud annoying voice brought him out of his calm state

"Nor~ What are you doing?" Mathias…also know as Denmark or Denny to the fans, was grinning down at him.

Erik rolled his eyes and turned away from the taller Danish man

"I'm meditating…now leave me alone"

"Awww… you're no fun Norge~" Mathias started poking the back of his head, already Erik's patience was wearing thin.

"Go bug Berwald or Tino...or go talk to your fans outside the door…just fuck off…."

Mathias laughed and clapped his back once more before strolling over to Berwald to help strum the instruments, after a few minutes, Erik could hear Mathias singing one of their older songs.

_I was a quiet man. And yet everyone ran...I was a king in disguise. _

_May I offer you one word of advice? Never, never go against my will. The price you'll pay would be too high...I would kill._

_Blood on my hands, dirt on the lands. Innocent people already vanished, perished, slowly to non-existent._

_...they told me...I was throwing away life...so the child dies… It was never meant, to be this waaaaay._

It almost put him back into a good mood. At least the Dane was being useful.

It wasn't that Erik hated his band-mates, but more that he liked to be left in peace and quiet before they headed on to the stage. The other's respected his wishes, but Mathias would always mess about and interrupt his meditation.

"Erik…it's time to roll" a monotone voice was heard from behind and Erik turned to face Halvor, the keyboardist of the band

"Sure…coming now…" Erik got up form the chair he'd been sitting in and followed after Iceland. Mathias was carrying his newly strum guitar, grinning like always, behind him followed Tino, throwing his fist in the air and smiling, his drum sticks stuffed down his back pocket. Last but not least, their bass player Berwald. There people where the closest to family Erik had, and right now, they where just about to go on stage and rock for this American town…adrenaline was now pumping through all their veins.

As they headed up onto the stage, high pitched screams broke out over the crowd, as the fans – some having waited for hours on end for this moment- screamed at the sight of their biggest idols

Mathias grinned and grabbed a hold of the microphone "HALLOOO EVERYONE" he yelled in his usual happy voice, the crown screamed in return, He gave a laugh before continuing his antics "We're gonna rock SO hard for you all tonight! ARE YOU READY?" The crows shouted back a loud 'YESSSSS!'

Mathias seemed satisfied with this and took his position, giving Berwald a high-five and Erik a wink. Erik ignored him and instead concentrated on his task; Getting the music right. He couldn't care less for the fans or the money, what he liked was to play music, whether it was at home with his closest friends, or millions of strangers, it didn't really matter, he just liked playing and signing. It was fun.

In the back, Tino counted loudly "one, two, a one two threeeee" and hit the drums hard, Mathias followed immediately along with Berwald while Halvor slowly started the melody on the keyboard.

Grabbing the microphone stand with one hand, Erik closed his eyes for a moment and when he heard the familiar note of his fellow band-mates' reach a certain part, he started to sing. His voice softly weaving into the melody of the instruments, his fiddle down by his side, ready to be played when he stopped singing.

_Endlessly you fought on the steppes  
Unmercifully you ravaged in the mountains  
You took you victories with storm  
Crushed your enemies with your hand  
Ohhhh, Attila!  
Make me your servant…  
Ohhhh, Attila!_

* * *

Natalia really didn't see the point of being here at all. Sure the band played alright music, but she found no need to go see them in concert. Yet her flatmate's and friends wanted so badly to see them and had forced her along.

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Elizabeta, better knows as Eliza, was literally jumping up and down in anticipation, digital camera securely hanging around her neck, ready for any good photo 'opportunity' should the band members of 'Skandinavien' do something exciting. Lily was standing next to her, smiling sweetly "Oh yes, I can't wait to see Sweden playing" This got the attention of Audrey "Sweden? I though that your favourite was Finland… "Well…he's sweet and all, but…I don't know, Sweden just has that…air around him" a blush spread across her face as she looked down at her feet. " Eliza nodded, "personally, Norway is my absolute favourite" her eyes glazed as if in a dream "Besides, Everyone knows Sweden has a thing for Finland" "I know that….but…" Lily trailed off, not sharing her good friend's sentiment of love for boys kissing "I just like his style…" Audrey smiled and patted the shorter girls head "good thing we all like different one's hu? I just have to say…Denmark…definitely Denmark for me"

Natalia sighted, this was such a ridiculous conversation. Eliza had a slight obsession over Norway, even more so if she could pair him up with Denmark – the idea was in Natalia's head, completely stupid…as most rumours and stories pointed towards Denmark being a huge womaniser and Norway…well, he kept a lot to himself and thus had been labelled asexual by media. Whether it was true or not was of no concern to her. She couldn't care less – they where just 5 guys playing music…no need to get so involved with them the slightest. Although, she had to admit, Iceland was rather…cute. Of course, nothing near as amazing as her older brother. No man could ever measure himself up to him.

"Come on Natalia!" Elizabeta took a hold of the platinum blonde woman and dragged her inside the venue with her "the concert is about to start!" Natalia glared but knew it was futile to try and escape now… Somehow, they pushed their way all the way to the front, as close to the stage as possible. Audrey and Elizabeth's determination drove quite a few away, and Natalia glaring daggers at anyone who came to close was quite the help. At one point they lost sight of Lily, but they quickly found her again, Audrey holding on the smaller girls hand, just to make sure she wouldn't get lost again. The lights went off and the entire crowd went silent before erupting into screams as the band came on stage. Natalia could hear a small scream of joy from Lily and very, very loud yells from Audrey and Eliza as they spotted their favourite members. Natalia rolled her eyes and tried to block out all the unnecessary screaming all the girls where doing. She regretted not having bought ear-plugs with her now…

However, despite all her protests and complaining, Natalia soon found herself singing quietly along to the songs, and when Norway started playing his violin, back to back with a very excited Denmark, she almost understood the appeal of the band. They where such a contrast; Norway was calm and seemed to live in a dream, just looking at him and you could almost imagine how playing music was for him – beautiful. Denmark on the other hand, was so energetic and brash, hiding his energy seemed impossible. Iceland would let his hand flow beautifully over the keyboard, as the impression he gave was close to Norway's – lost in a world of their own. Sweden was, intimidating, but it only made his bass sound all the more powerful somehow…And Finland…Finland's energy on the drums was on par with Denmark, a happy smile on his face through all the songs.

Denmark was definitely in a high spirit as he yelled out the chorus to "Faraway Lands"

_The wind through our hair, women screaming in despair. Men didn't stand a chance; our enemies didn't win even once. _

_Those were the times in the Viking era. _

* * *

The concert had been a success. They even had time to do an encore number at the end, much to the audience's bliss. Walking off they where all exhausted, but bodies so full of adrenaline they really didn't feel like relaxing just yet. "Hey…there are some girls outside, wanting to meet you guys" Willem – their tour manager and part technician stuck his head in, cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. The Dutch man refrained from telling the band that one of them was his sister, he considered that useless knowledge at the moment. "Send them in!" Mathias grinned, obviously quite excited about meeting fans. Erik sighted and snuck quietly out, not really wanting to meet any people right now. He'd seen a coffee machine somewhere further back in the building and fully intended to get himself a cup or two, the rest could entertain the girls.

While Erik snuck out and disappeared, Mathias and the rest of the band where talking to the four girls. Eliza was snapping pictures so quickly they hardly heard the shutter button stop at all. Lily was shyly talking to Berwald and Tino, complimenting them both as much as her shy nature would allow. The two taller males found her rather adorable. Halvor was standing rather awkwardly next to Mathias, trying to avoid the crazy camera lady but not really wanting to leave either, inwardly he was cursing Erik for leaving him with the obnoxious Mathias. Natalia got bored after a minute and excused herself, before disappearing down the hallway and out of the building. The fresh, crisp air was refreshing and comforting and she felt herself relax a bit. She really didn't see the point of talking to the band members; she assumed the only thing on their minds was money and fame. Her brother, Ivan, a Harvard graduate was better then any one of those self absorbed musicians.

When she felt she'd had enough fresh air, Natalia turned abruptly around, a movement that sent her crashing into a taller figure just about to walk out the door. She heard the man utter a quiet 'Faen i helvete' as whatever he had been holding got spilled all over him. Natalia took a step back and looked up at the person standing in front of her. She felt herself take a sharp intake of breath at the realisation of who it was. Erik was standing there, looking at his white shirt stained with coffee, his usual blank expression exchanged for one with a slight frown, obviously not pleased about having lost most of his coffee "That….was rather… unnecessary" he sighted and looked up at her, she was a very beautiful woman, although the slight glare in her eyes was just a tad bit off putting. He wasn't sure why she was glaring at him. She had bumped into him, and as far as he could see, he was the only one soaked in coffee.

Natalia didn't even utter an apology, the first thing that came out of her mouth was a harsh "Look where you're going, idiot!" Erik blinked a bit in confusions "Excuse me…but you bumped into me…" "Well you where far to close! You obviously weren't paying attention at all!" At this accusation all Erik did was shrug and look at her silently. This woman had some anger management issues, and he saw no point in arguing, he stared at his now empty coffee cup, sighted and threw it away. Natalia looked the blonde man up and down, a slight glare in her eyes. 'Stupid, stuck up, spoilt, rich brat' Natalia hadn't hated someone as much as this since she broke up with her last boyfriend, Arthur, a few months ago. Arthur had been a good few years older than her, but after 6 months, she realised she obviously could do much, much better. The only good thing about having dated Arthur, was that he was at least a step up form her high school romance Alfred – a loud and rather obnoxious kid. Erik was the complete opposite from Alfred, yet right now Natalia had decided she really didn't like him, or his attitude.

She gave him a glare and stomped back inside, fully intending to drag the other girls with her back home, she'd had enough this night. Reaching the backstage room her mood didn't exactly improve at the sight of her friends still so engrossed in conversation with the rest of the band. Eliza was hanging on Denmark's arm, trying to get the tall man to tell her where Norway was. "He hates crowds" Finland piped in, before spotting Natalia, giving her a large welcoming smile and a wave. Denmark looked her up and down, giving her a wink and flashing her a large smile. Natalia ignored the Dane and instead focused on prying her friends off the guys. "We are leaving now…" "What? No! I've not gotten a good photo of Norway yet!" Eliza sounded genuinely upset by this, all Natalia could do was roll her eyes at her friends obsessions. Suddenly Finland's eyes went wide in surprise. "Erik! What happened to you!" Tino rushed up to his fellow band-mate, who had just entered the room. Erik glanced across the room before shrugging "oh…nothing, just tripped" This made Mathias laugh and give the shorter man a playful punch in the arm "You're such a clumsy guy Nor~ Where you daydreaming again, hmmm?" Erik glared at him before starting to unbutton his coffee-soaked shirt, throwing it onto a chair, somewhere behind him he heard the sound of a camera going off and a muffled squeal. Rolling his eyes he decided to ignore it.

Elizabeta was right now, in heaven, she thanked whatever god had made Norway trip. She yanked Natalia closer and whispered into her ear "look at that…he's much more toned than I thought…" Natalia huffed and pretended not to be interested, but the Hungarian woman had a point. Erik had a lot more muscles then what she had assumed him to have. A blush spread across Lily's face and she tried to hide slightly behind Sweden. Audrey was not complaining at all either, like Elizabeta, she found the Nordic man's lack of care of being half naked a blessing from God. "Hey…Denmark…you're good friends with Norway, right?" Eliza had a small smirk across her lips, a devious plan formulation in her mind already "You should hug him…" Audrey added, already knowing her friends plan. Mathias, never the one to say no to a 'challenge', happily obliged and hugged the shorter man. Erik gave him a death glare, but refrained from punching his life-long friend, it would only make matter's worse at this point. Elizabeta was snapping pictures, making it all look terribly inappropriate. Natalia eventually got fed up with them and snatched the camera away and turned on her heel, walking briskly out the door. "Hey! No! Give it back!" Eliza and Audrey ran after her, leaving a very flustered Lily alone. The small girl gave a shy wave and a 'thank you' to Sweden and Finland before hurrying out after her friends.

Once the girls where out the door, Erik pushed Mathias off him "That was completely and utterly unnecessary you bastard." Halvor chuckled before handing Erik a 'crew' t-shirt. "You should know by now Erik, that Mathias does anything a pretty girl asks of him…" "That is still no reason to behave like a damn idiot." Erik glared at the Dane, who didn't even notice, and continued to grin happily, bouncing up and down in anticipation. "So guys…let's go drink!" he threw a fist in the air and smiled. "We should invite Willem" Berwald muttered from the sidelines. Mathias though that to be a brilliant idea; but later claimed it was he who had though of it, this earned the Dane a rather large bruise on his arm from a fairly annoyed Berwald.

* * *

_A.N_

_Why yes, the second lyrics are actually from a death metal band song...if you recognise them, I owe you a cookie_

_the other songs are made-up ones. My epic Muse Yiramy made them for me...and they where too good to pass up 3_

_More chapters soon to follow!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Next instalment! Hope you like!_

* * *

Approximately 3 hours later, the majority of the band and road crew where fairly hammered. Berwald had remained fairly sober and was carrying a very drunk and angry ranting Tino over his shoulder. The Finnish man was currently on a long tangent about how terrible the vodka they had been served was. At Berwald's comment that it had been Russian vodka, Tino only got angrier and his rant included a lot of curse words no one wanted to hear translated.

Willem and Mathias where stumbling around somewhere further ahead, tripping over each other's feet and giggling like high school girls, Eduard and Kiku, the light and sound technicians followed closely behind, trying their very best to pry the joint's out of the two men's hands. They where however hardly getting anywhere and where now currently just running after the two stoners, trying their very hardest to ensure minimum damage to anything the two males walked past. Erik had at the start of the night, tried very hard to drink as much as humanly possible, but before he could even get tipsy, he was tackled to the ground by a very happy and clingy Halvor. While Erik usually found it amusing to try and get the shorter Icelandic male to call him 'storebror', once Halvor had had a few drinks too many, the constant stream of "Storebror! Carry me!" and "Storebror! Hug?" got rather bothersome.

Currently he had the shorter male next to him, helping the poor guy walk along the road and back to the hotel. He promised himself the second he had gotten his idiot band mates safely back, he was going to go out and drink like there was no tomorrow.

His master plan was sadly ruined one they got back to the hotel, and Mathias and Willem decided a group sleepover on the floor was the best idea in the world. Despite his protests, Erik found himself pinned to floor, in-between duvets and pillows, by a very adamant Halvor and Mathias. Berwald had also been dragged into the war, but the poor man was having more of an issue trying to calm Tino down and dodging the occasional pillow thrown at his head by the Finnish male.

In the end Berwald overpowered the shorter blonde and Tino gave up, opting for hiding under blankets and sulk over his defeat. Eduard and Kiku narrowly escaped the evil clutches of Willem and Mathias, and had locked themselves in their own hotel room. 'Lucky bastards' was all Erik could think as Halvor hugged him so hard he could hardly breathe.

* * *

Natalia had eventually managed to get home without any more incidents from her friends. Getting sleep was an entirely different matter, as Elizabeta and Audrey where busy giggling and laughing over the many pictures the Hungarian woman had managed to get of the band. Natalia could hear their screams of excitement as they went through each of them. She briefly debated getting a kitchen knife and stabbing the hell out of the laptop they where using, until it occurred to her they where borrowing hers.

Her alarm rang a shrill and mind numbingly loud sound early the next morning. Natalia grabbed a hold of it and threw it across the room – much to her anger the wicked thing survived the throw and only continued making the loud noises. Groaning she tumbled out of bed and over to the alarm, cursing in every language she knew. Once the monstrosity (the damn IKEA alarm her older sister had gotten her years ago) was dealt with, Natalia was more or less wide awake. She quickly got dressed and ready and headed for the kitchen.

Lily was already up, making breakfast and humming a song quietly to herself. The petite woman hardly noticed Natalia enter and got quite the fright when the Belarusian woman suddenly asked if there was breakfast for her too. "Oh! Of course there is!" Lily chirped happily once her heart had stopped beating so fast. "Audrey and Elizabeta are still sleeping." Natalia had to laugh at that, the two had undoubtedly been staring at pictures all night, and the result of their all-nighter was all over the living room. Pictures upon pictures had been printed out and was either hung up on some walls or strewn across the floor. Natalia was unsure what to think of the small hand written comments the two had added to some pictures. She had a slight feeling she would have to wash her eyes with bleach if these pictures remained up for too long. 'How on earth did they even get such…poses from?' No way had any of the band members done anything like what the pictures depicted them doing when she had been around… Natalia decided to blame Photoshop and continued her breakfast.

Arriving at work was no trouble and the time up to lunch was fairly quiet, as expected. The old bookshop was almost impossible to see, hidden in-between larger and grander clothing stores. Most people paid it no mind and would simply just walk past, not even offering the Antique bookstore a glance. Natalia was reading a book her brother had recommended, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, so far she'd gotten about a quarter into it and her only trouble was remembering all the characters mentioned so far.

The sound of the shop's bell ringing clearly through the shop jolted her out of her own thoughts as she lent to the left to get a better view of the person having just arrived. Her eyes immediately narrowed. There was no reason for _him _to be here, especially not now.

Erik has really just been wandering the streets looking for a nice quiet place to have coffee when he stumbled upon the small Antique bookstore. He'd run out of books to read while on tour, and now that they had a few days to laze about he really wanted to find something to occupy his time with. There had been some old music sheets in the shop window, so he figured he'd at least take a look. The old brass bell made a nice clear sound in his ears, as he entered and immediately observed the interior of the shop. It was rather difficult to see anything in the dim light, but once his eyes adjusted he could make out rows upon rows of old bookshelves almost reaching the ceiling. The smell of old books was comforting and he almost let a smile appear on his lips as he started to move along one row, carefully tracing his fingers over the ancient spines. He didn't really become aware of the pair of eyes watching him until he reached the end of the row and was suddenly face to face with the woman from last night.

"You!" Natalia hissed through clenched teeth "What are you doing here?" Erik's face betrayed no emotion what so ever, he simply leant carefully against one of the bookshelves and stared back with a calm expression. "What a nice greeting…do all customers receive such a warm welcome, or am I just one lucky guy?" Erik raised one eyebrow questionably; a small smirk was almost visible for a brief moment. Natalia was fuming, out of all the people in the band; it had to be the one guy she had decided she hated. "No, only smug bastards like you" she continued to give the blonde man a death glare, but he seemed completely unaffected.

This only made her more frustrated, she had sent several men running with her glare, why did this one not even flinch? Erik said nothing and instead turned around and walked back in between the bookshelves. "With such an attitude, it's a wonder this shop is still around…" He picked down a book from the top shelf and examined the spine and the decorations on the front cover – faded, but good condition. "Well it survives nicely when the customers actually care for the contents of the shop, unlike you" at this all he did was look her briefly in the eye before going back to carefully flip through the pages. Erik wasn't sure what he had done to make this woman hate him so much, but he figured she'd get over it eventually.

"Mhm…sure….whatever you say miss" Erik coolly stated as he continued to flip through the old book – maps, tons of them. A small smile crossed his lips as he found an old map of Europe, he liked antique things. Back home he had several violins and fiddles from various time periods and countries. He liked things from the past – they had a story to tell, and that made them all the more special.

Natalia wanted nothing more than to throw the damn male out of the shop and lock the door so he'd be unable to get in again, but seeing as he stood a good 15 cm taller than her, she did realise it might be a bit more tricky. She quietly observed him for a few minutes. He was handing the book with uttermost care, as if was something very precious to him. The blonde male was lost in his own little world as he flipped through the ancient pages. Natalia observed every movement, the slightest contact of his slender fingers gently turning the pages, to his lips moving slightly upward to a small smile whenever he spotted something interesting in the book. Just like during the concert, there was something mesmerising about him.

Erik slammed the book shut, jolting Natalia out of her spellbound state. "You had some music sheets in the window….are there more?" Erik's deep blue eyes met hers and Natalia felt herself blush. Another reason to hate this man… "There are a box of them over there" She huffed and pointed to a large cardboard box in the corner, stacks of books looming over it, threatening to topple over if you as much as looked at them. Erik gave her a questioningly look, before he shrugged and walked over to the box, lifting the books away and carefully placing them somewhere safer. Natalia stayed behind the counter, watching him sift though the large amount of sheet music, occasionally he'd stop to stare at one for a long time, before either placing it back in the box or on a nearby shelf.

Eventually Natalia managed to tear he eyes of the Norwegian's back and went to the store-room to do what she was supposed to do – unpack more books. She was just about to turn around with an arm full of books when she slammed into the slightly familiar frame of the Nordic man. "Good thing I wasn't carrying coffee this time…" Erik casually stated as he stood right in front of her, holding a few old music sheets and the book he had been looking at before. Natalia was almost at loss for words "You…you shouldn't be back here" she sternly pointed to the front of the shop "Out!" Erik shrugged and just gave her a blank stare "Well I tried getting your attention, but you where away with the fairies, so I came back here" He shifted the bundle of paper and book in his hand, his light blue shirt smeared and covered in the dust from the store. "Well you got my attention, now move" Natalia spun him around and pushed him to the front of the shop; it required little effort, as Erik seemed to be rather willing and didn't put up any resistance. He placed the book and music sheets on the counter with uttermost care, before searching through his pockets for his wallet.

Natalia tried not to look at him as she rang the items up manually through the till machine, but she could feel his gaze upon her, almost as if he could look through her. It sent chills down her spine. "That's…45$ for the lot" Natalia watched as Erik did a mental calculation in his head before handing her the money. 'Filthy rich heathen bastard' was what she wanted to call him, but she doubted that would go down well if her boss ever heard of it. Instead she packed the items into a brown plastic bag and shoved the whole thing into his hands, sending the taller man almost stumbling backwards. He chuckled breathlessly and smirked at her ever so slightly – oh how she hated that smirk. "You seem to be good at taking my breath away Miss" Natalia felt her face fluster and flare up, her pale complexion making her blush fairly obvious, even in the dim-lit store. No witty reply came to her, she just stood there, flabbergasted and completely in shock. Erik leant over the counter, took a hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles before letting her hand go again "Have a good day my dear." And with that, the Norwegian musician was gone.

* * *

_A.N. _

_Man, slowly but surely building up the tension here~ I just hope I'm not going too quickly or too slowly_

_Thanks for all the reviews so far everyone, makes me happy ^^_


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